I’m wondering if making a set up like this to simply hook up to the router table at low speed would work. Too much speed? Will burn out router in short order? Would be interested in hearing your and other LJ’s thoughts.

I think you mentioned in your previous post about a vacuum hook up… or do you just occasionally dump the dust? Either way, great idea and thanks so much for taking the time to do these pics. They do explain things better.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

Is most of the noise from the drill running or the pieces clanging around in the can? (If it’s the can, could you insulate it by putting a PVC bucket over it with foam inside?)

I assume that the C/D speed is “slow” compared to A? You don’t want the beads pinging all over the place, right?

When you vacuum out the dust, do you do it from the top with a dust collector? I envision something with a grate to prevent the beads from passing through, but not having to empty and reload every time?

“Is most of the noise from the drill running or the pieces clanging around in the can? (If it’s the can, could you insulate it by putting a PVC bucket over it with foam inside?)” ——————————————————————————————————————————I use some PVC stripes inside the tin, so now the drill running is the most source of the noise. Without PVC – the pieces clanging.

“I assume that the C/D speed is “slow” compared to A? You don’t want the beads pinging all over the place, right?” —————————————————————————————————————————-‘F’ is the fastest speed and too noisy for me. ‘A’ works slower, although the dependence of the sanding rate is not simple.

“When you vacuum out the dust, do you do it from the top with a dust collector? I envision something with a grate to prevent the beads from passing through, but not having to empty and reload every time?” —————————————————————————————————————————-I’m ashamed, but I have every 20 minutes to empty and reload!If you make dust holes on the side it will only work if the vacuum turned on all the time. It’s too noisy, so I turn it on only during breaks. And all the dust collected on the bottom of the tin, under the sand disk. I need the dust hook in the bottom (I’ll do it, swear).

Of course this is only home made machine for my own pleasure. If I had to earn money, I’d use something like the washing machine with plastic can inside (5-gallon water tank?) and tumbling stones.

I’ve got my set-up roughed out & will turn it on after I get back from the hardware store for a couple of bolts I couldn’t scrounge up at midnight last night in my shop. (Why isn’t the hardware store open 24hrs/day for night-crawlers like me, yet right next door there’s a 7-11 convenience store open 24/7 even on holidays?)

I added a vacuum port on the side of the can with a 2.5” hose fitting and a 4”x4” block of wood cut out on my bandsaw circle cutting jig to match the dia of the can. The hole in the can is only about 1” tall & set below the disk level. I’m thinking you only need to turn on the vac the last 5-10 seconds before turning off the drill to swap out grits.

Not a dumb question dave, I was wondering the same thing about the wax :)

And thank you posting the blog filin, I know my girlfriend will love this. It’ll be a bit with school till I can get to it, so I just won’t tell her about it until I have something to show her :P It should make spending money on wood in the future even easier since she’ll end up with some beads in the end.

“The picture you have of the block of wax: Are you suggesting wiping the disk with a bit of the block of carnauba wax, or are you suggesting adding the block to the whole mix?” ——————————————————————————————————————————————————-I wipe the disk with the wax. And add a little oil (something like dunish or teak) after the onset of rotation. It allows you to evenly distribute the oil in a thin layer and not to stain the disk. On the sides of tin I put plain paper.

“In the Youtube video is this the typical speed you run throughout the process or do you change speed at different steps?” ——————————————————————————————————————————————————This is “C” speed of my drill, but you can see only the beads rotation that’s just a lot less than disk speed.It seems to be (not quite sure about that), greater speed allows faster processing, but it interferes with the noise. And I have been told it is not good for a drill.

Thank you so much for your idea with the vacuum port. It’s easy to make and should work.